3 norway spruce removals. 3 different technics. 3 different results.

Wesspur
Shop deals on ebay
shop deals on amazon
Arborist Forum

Help Support Arborist Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
miko0618

miko0618

ArboristSite Guru
Joined
Jan 23, 2013
Messages
853
Reaction score
228
Location
pa
I got a job to remove 4 Norway spruce trees in a ladys yard. 3 where about the same size. 26" diameter 4' up. about 80 feet tall. very straight. so I had the chance to work them and see which method was the most comfortable. heres what I did and what I determined.

most spruce trees I do I spike up them removing the limbs around the tree as I go. drop the top and descend. what sucks about it is standing in pretty much the same position all day and the fact that your in the sap all the time. so the first tree I did that. I dropped the top at the last 15 feet. moved down 15 feet and dropped another section. it left me with about a 50 foot stem. I dropped it. it all took about 2.5 hours.

the next tree I spiked up about 20 feet removing all the limbs. (explain in a bit) I then climbed the limbs til the last 15 feet. I cleared it out a little and dropped the top. which left a stem and the remaining branches. I worked my way down removing the branches from the top down. I removed another part of the stem at about 15 feet down. as you figured, not all of the branches fell through to the ground. this was the down side to this. what was nice about this was I always had limbs to stand on. the reason I removed the first 20 feet was so no limbs would have the tips touching the ground piling up vertically against the trunk. this method was a little messy but less fatiguing than just spiking. including dropping the stem, it took about 3 hours.

the last method I used was I spiked up to where I could climb the limbs. I climbed to the last 15 feet and dropped the top. I double wrapped and choked a sling and ran my friction saver through it. I descended clearing a narrow path as I went down. then simply drt'd my way back up clearing the stem. I removed my sling/friction saver, descended 15 feet and dropped a section. descended and dropped the stem. this took me about 2.5 hours. this was by far the best method. if I got tired from hanging, I could rest on the spikes. it was organized, I had the most control and freedom.

these where big trees. it was a good time to play. most spruce trees the growth it too tight and the limbs are too small to just climb them. anyone know of a way to set a friction saver around the stem in a pine from the ground? hmm?
 
Easy, fast.

Big shot, or a big arm to throw; set a throw line where it will be safe.

Pull a "raising" rope up and over your TIP. On the end of that rope, securely tie one end of your friction saver. Run your DRT rope through the other ring of the friction saver, then use the raising rope to pull your friction saver and DRT rope to the top of the tree. This works best if you tie the friction saver to the end of the rope that followed the path of the throwball as it came down between all the branches. In this manner, your DRT rig usually follows a pretty straight path up through the tree.

Tie off the raising rope to the base of the tree; make damn sure you never cut it. You now have a DRT rig that has been raised to the top of the tree; it's suspension point is a single ring on a friction saver. I eventually got tired of using a friction saver, and just started using a 1/2" thick screw link. If not used on a removal, the friction saver will provide more protection for the bark of the tree you are in.


There are lots of things to like about this method; it's fast and easy, it is as reliable as your tie in point. Furthermore, you can raise a DRT setup through an army of interfering branches.
Things to not like: it has all the drawbacks of an SRT tie in: doubled force against the TIP, the unavoidable risk of cutting the hidden/unused side of the line, and there is always the increased risk of knot/rope failure when there are more parts involved. At some point, the descending side of your raising line will interfere with the limbs you are cutting off the tree, too, almost certainly changing your work position in the process.
 
Last edited:
TheJollyLogger said:
Not really, but srt works really well in a situation like that.
Click to expand...

I got the feeling that they weren't ready to make that jump. Even though I have most all the toys for it, I'm not an SRT enthusiast yet. I don't think I'll ever make the transition until I come up with a reliable descender device for SRT loads...that I can afford.
 
Last edited:
On most conifers, spiking up, limbing as I go, leaving a clean spar with no stubs sticking out works for me. They may be nice to stand on, but if you leave them you are always fighting with something hanging up on them and you'll work yourself and your ground crew twice as hard trying to get stuff unsnagged. Getting a throw line through some of them would be nearly impossible and I can't think of why it would needed on a takedown.
 
One thing Gypo Tower Loggers are is efficent. If rope climbing a spruce was the fastest easiest way to take it down that's how we would do it. But we don't. Climbing belt, wire core 7/ 8" , 4 strand manilla rope/ flip line and spurs. You loose a lot of efficiency being in a rope and saddle if all your doing is taking down a conifer or really any relitivly straight stem tree. Unless it needs to be rigged down. Ya, its Hard work. But its easier for me than rope climbing. Until the trees get to over 7 foot across the stump.
 
Last edited:
Last summer I did a take down of a Sitka spruce. Did lots of them actually. But the tallest that I have pics of was topped at 97 feet. . It was right next to a house so I put a pulling line in the top. Then I chunked it down in 8-10' logs till it was about 40' tall. Put a pulling line in it. Climbed down and fell the stob. It took right at 3 he's and 5 minutes. I burned 2 1/2 tanks of saw gas while in the tree. . . For being 52 and weighing 250 at the time that's not bad but it could have gone faster.
 
tramp bushler said:
Last summer I did a take down of a Sitka spruce. Did lots of them actually. But the tallest that I have pics of was topped at 97 feet. . It was right next to a house so I put a pulling line in the top. Then I chunked it down in 8-10' logs till it was about 40' tall. Put a pulling line in it. Climbed down and fell the stob. It took right at 3 he's and 5 minutes. I burned 2 1/2 tanks of saw gas while in the tree. . . For being 52 and weighing 250 at the time that's not bad but it could have gone faster.
Click to expand...

Slacker. I'm sure I could have easily shaved 30-60 seconds off that time.

Tramp is right. On a conifer, spur up, block down is the way to go. Sounds like spur issues to me, to be honest.Get a good comfy set of spurs, make em fit for ya, and go to town. Actually, a lot of times it's the boot, not the spurs. Spur/boot combos are very personal, I've never seen two climbers like the exact same setup. I actually climd in old desert storm boots with old buckinghams, pole spurs, with the t pads on backwards. Everybody else hates em, but they're broke in for me, and I'm good for 5-6 hrs on em.
 
When I was younger and had a lot more energy I would us a 66 with a 36in bar and limb as I went up, the long bar gave me a lot of reach. You can move pretty fast like that, Then chunker down.
Its not as fast with a 200t though and you can't swing the branches as well, but that's how I do it now. If I can get a clear shot I'll sometimes shoot a line and SRT up there, but if you have to lower branches that technique isn't that good.
I think the fastest if you can get a way with it is to either SRT or free climb the tree to the top, pull up a tipping line in the bag, toss the bag out and take the top then pieces, branches and all, then limb it on the ground Some times its safer to do that then to be bombing branches if there is something underneath it. Like if the pine is right next to a structure.
 
tramp bushler said:
I've been going over that same problem and I think I'll try the Hitch Hiker
A GriGri, Rig or Id may work with a pulley on the ascender then the rope running down to a foot ascender
Click to expand...

I have been checking out the hitch hiker too. I SRT with a gri gri(RADS)right now and am really comfortable with it. I have a rope wrench, but I can't ascend easily on it. With the RADs I can go from ascend to descend in seconds. I don't use the foot strap, but footlock the rope so that's one more piece of equipment I don't have to worry about (unless I'm wearing spikes or its a really tall tree.)
I wonder how hard it is to ascend with the hitchhiker. I like to keep it as gear less as possible. I'm always losing those little expensive gadgets.
 
beastmaster said:
When I was younger and had a lot more energy I would us a 66 with a 36in bar and limb as I went up, the long bar gave me a lot of reach. You can move pretty fast like that, Then chunker down.
Its not as fast with a 200t though and you can't swing the branches as well, but that's how I do it now. If I can get a clear shot I'll sometimes shoot a line and SRT up there, but if you have to lower branches that technique isn't that good.
I think the fastest if you can get a way with it is to either SRT or free climb the tree to the top, pull up a tipping line in the bag, toss the bag out and take the top then pieces, branches and all, then limb it on the ground Some times its safer to do that then to be bombing branches if there is something underneath it. Like if the pine is right next to a structure.
Click to expand...

You make a good point with srt, one of the great things about it is you climb to where the work is. I've had big pecans and oaks where it was actually faster to climb up, work a side, come down and reset, maybe 3 or 4 times, rather than clamber through the canopy with multiple resets. Just goes to show ya how having a full toolbag makes life easier.
 
Ill usually start on the side of my drop zone and climb up with a mechanical lanyard and my climbing line using the pair like a double ended lanyard. Ill only trim up the branches on the side of my drop zone so that leaves lots of stuff on the back side to hold my lanyard and climbing line in place. Leaving all those branches on it helps dampen the trees harmonics and really helps get rid of that wobbly flag pole effect. On lots of trees I can comfortably get up high enough to cut the top out with my hand saw and toss it down using this method. Once I get to the top I simply cut the stuff of the back side and block the spar down into my drop zone. The branches on the back usually just hang up in the canopy and I can grab them and toss them down. If they look like they might fall uncontrollably I just tie them off with a loop runner first. It takes about 45 minutes to do a 50 foot spruce this way. I like the method because your always supported by your climbing line and can descend or rest while your waiting for your ground guys to clean up and because the trees have very little sway when your at the top.
 

Similar threads

L
Co-Dominant Stems on White Spruce Sapling (When is best to remove?)
Replies
3
Views
293
BeatCJ
BeatCJ
S
Norway Spruce - will they live ?
Replies
2
Views
611
ClimberBusinessman
C
Chucksta
What's the worst you've done to an idiot customer?
5 6 7
Replies
120
Views
5K
lone wolf
lone wolf
S
How would you proceed? To fall or climb?
Replies
4
Views
2K
chipper1
chipper1
I
New climber falls out of tree
Replies
15
Views
3K
Lightning Performance
Lightning Performance

Latest posts

Back
Top